New Beginnings
by QueenTheirin24
Summary: After having a dream, Fiona becomes convinced that Maric is still alive somewhere in Tevinter, and after Alistair gets kidnapped by the same magister that took Maric, she and Alistair's wife, Azariah, set it to the foreign land with their friends to find them. Rated M mostly for language and a few sexual hints.
1. Alistair Gets Kidnapped

Okay, so let me start off by saying that I have just finished reading _Dragon Age: The Calling_ , and I have to say I was dissatisfied with how it ended. The book itself is good and it really drew me into the story, but the ending was… well, not the best, in my opinion. No offense to the writer, David Gaider. So, I decided to write a story that ends the way _I_ want it to, because after all, isn't that what fanfiction is all about.

Now, before you ask: no, I am not changing the ending of the story, _The Calling_ ; this story is about what happens after Inquisition takes place, not long after the main storyline of the game, but obviously before _Trespasser_. However, I am going to be changing the storyline of the comic books a bit.

Now, enough of my rant, let's get to it!

––

 _Fiona was in the Deep Roads with Maric and a few other Grey Wardens. She had snuck off from the camp they had set up after having a nightmare and not being able to fall back asleep. She was sitting with Maric and ended up telling him about her time as a slave and how she found her way to the circle, and then the Grey Wardens; afterwards, there was silence._

 _They sat there on the cloak, staring out together into the shadows. Finally, it was Maric who spoke. "My mother was killed in front of me," He said, quietly. "I had to become the leader of her rebellion, something I felt completely unprepared for."_

 _"You don't need to tell me this," She murmured._

 _"No, I do." He looked at her, his expression grim. "There was an elven woman named Katriel. A spy from Orlais that I fell in love with, and she with me. She saved my life, and yet when I found out what she was, I didn't give her a chance. I killed her."_

 _"I didn't know about that."_

 _He chuckled ruefully. "You must be the only one."_

 _"Was she… the one in your dream?"_

 _He nodded. "I would have done anything to take back that day. Yet I couldn't. I had to go on, because Ferelden needed me. I married a woman who was in love with my best friend, because Ferelden needed me. And when she died I kept going, despite the fact that everything in my life felt empty, because Ferelden needed me." He looked at her again, his eyes sad. "Everything was because Ferelden needed me."_

 _"Why are you telling me this?"_

 _"Everyone has nightmares, Fiona."_

 _She felt Maric take her hand, and he squeezed it. She was drawn to him almost magnetically, and found herself leaning to give him a tentative kiss. She pulled away only a fraction afterwards. He looked as surprised as she did, though not displeased._

 _Then she leaned in again, more urgently, and their kiss had passion. She felt him breathing against her, and accepted his arms as they closed around her._

 _She wanted this. She wanted to be with a good man, and forget for just for a moment about where they were, and what had happened to them. She needed a moment's solace, and she suspected he did, too. Pulling away from the heat of his touch, she tugged desperately at her chain mail, undoing the leather straps that held it down. She pulled at the padded undershirt, sighing with relief as she finally got it off._

 _Maric hesitated. "Fiona, I… perhaps we shouldn't…"_

 _She ignored him, reaching over and undoing the straps that held his breastplate in place. He seemed pained, struggling with himself despite his obvious desire. "But what about the others?"_

 _"I don't care."_

 _"But… here?"_

 _"Forget where we are." She pulled the breastplate over his head and he let her, staring helplessly. When it was done, she started working on the straps for his pauldrons, and after a moment's hesitation he began to help. They tugged and pulled and twisted until slowly they got his bulky, heavy armor off._

 _She untied his stained and soiled undershirt and removed it, unveiling bare skin. He was covered in bruises and cuts, as no doubt was she. His eyes were locked on her with an intensity that threatened to burn her up. The King was a handsome man; she had to give him that. But not all handsome men were also bad men._

 _"Are you certain?" He whispered, his breathing husky. "There are… bad memories for me down here. I don't know if…"_

 _"Shhhhh," Fiona hushed him quietly, putting a finger to his lips. He stopped and looked at her with such an ache of loneliness it almost broke her heart. She slowly stroked his cheek. "I am tired of pain. So_ tired _. Aren't you?"_

 _His answer came as he leaned in, his kiss gentle as if he thought her fragile. And then another followed, and then another._

'Damned be the darkness,' _she thought._

 _She let the light of the staff extinguish._

Suddenly, Fiona bolted upright and looked around the room; she was back in her quarters at the top of the mage tower in Skyhold. When she realized it had only been a dream, she plopped down on her back on the bed with a deep, sad sigh. Tears started forming in her eyes, and she just let them out rather than try to wipe them away, and she was grateful that she had her own quarters so that no one would see her like this and ask her what was wrong. This was a topic she did not want to discuss with anyone. She turned over so that she could bury her face into her pillow as she sobbed quietly. These dreams had been haunting her sleep for about a month now, and they were always dreams about her past with Maric. _'Why do I keep dreaming of Maric? Why now? He's been dead for more than 15 years…'_ She asked herself. _'And I hadn't seen him since long before that.'_

It was true, Fiona hadn't seen Maric since she introduced him to their newborn son, Alistair. Alistair… that was another topic she didn't want to discuss. Only a few people ever knew that Fiona was Alistair's mother, not some servant girl from Redcliffe. That included Duncan, Loghain, Cailan, Eamon, and Teagan, and three out of those five people were now dead.

Fiona just sighed after she had calmed down a bit and decided to try and get her mind off things. So, she walked into the washroom that was connected to her room and poured some water from the pitcher into the basin and dunked a washcloth in, which she then proceeded to wash her face with. After doing so, she left the washroom and got dressed in her enchanter's robe before leaving to go for a walk around Skyhold and try to clear her mind. About 20 minutes into her walk, she ran into Snow Trevelyan talking to Cullen on the battlements.

Snow was the Inquisitor and a woman who Fiona had great admiration for. She didn't know a lot about her background, only that she came from a noble family in the Free Marches. She owed Snow her life since she was the one who freed her and the other mages from servitude to the Venatori, and even made them free allies afterwards, saying that she fully supported mage freedom. Despite that, she had managed to win over Cullen's heart who was an ex-templar and had made no secret of his hatred and distrust of mages in the past.

"Hi Fiona." Snow greeted with a smile when she spotted her walk over.

"Good morning, Inquisitor." She greeted back politely.

Snow frowned, and her violet-colored eyes showed concern as she got a closer look at Fiona. "Are you okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Your eyes are slightly puffy and red. Have you been crying?"

 _'Fuck!'_ Fiona thought and tried to quickly think of something to say before simply going with, "Yes, I'm fine. I just… had a sad dream, that's all." She wasn't entirely lying.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine. Really." She insisted, but since she got the feeling that Snow wasn't going to let this go, she looked down at the courtyard below to see if she could find anything to change the subject to. As it turned out, she did. "Say, who's that woman with your spymaster?"

Snow looked down and saw Leliana sitting on the stone wall that separated the upper courtyard from the lower one with a woman wearing a long sleeved reddish-purple dress with a matching cape that was lined with fur. She had a mabari sitting on the other side of her, wearing some black leather dog armor and a fancy collar. She and Leliana were making music and singing to their own songs. Snow then answered Fiona's question, "Oh, that's Queen Azariah! She and Leliana are old friends!"

"Queen Azariah…" Fiona looked rather shocked. "King Alistair's wife?"

"The very same!"

"Also known as the "Hero of Ferelden"." Cullen chimed in.

Snow nodded in agreement with Cullen, and then looked back at Fiona and saw her still looking at Azariah, as if she were inspecting her. "Fiona," When she looked back at her, Snow added, "Would you like me to introduce you to her?"

"No." Fiona replied rather quickly. "No, that's okay."

"Come on. I promise you, she's nice." Snow insisted and led Fiona and Cullen down the steps and up the group of people that started to surround Leliana and Azariah to watch. Leliana was playing her lute as she sang, and Azariah had a small drum to play along as she sang, too. After they completed that song, the whole crowd cheered and asked for another one.

"Oh, I don't know." Leliana teased to them. "Azariah, what do you think?"

"I think a few more won't kill me." Azariah laughed, and the two started playing another song.

After playing a few different songs, the two of them stopped and people started leaving, and Snow walked over to them. "That was great, you two! I enjoyed it!"

"Thanks!" Azariah replied.

"We weren't expecting to attract a crowd," Leliana added. "But it was fun!"

"Sure looked like it!" Snow laughed, and then looked back at Fiona, and motioned her forward. "By the way, Azariah, I want to introduce you to Fiona."

"Fiona? Grand Enchanter Fiona?" Azariah asked, but didn't wait for an answer before she continued, "I've heard of you. You were the leader of the mage rebellion and the one who let a magister take over Redcliffe."

"Yes," Fiona lowered her head a bit, ashamed. "Not exactly something I'm proud of…"

"I wasn't judging." Azariah said nicely. "We all do crazy things when we're desperate, and Snow came along to stop it, didn't she?"

"You're far more understanding about it than your husband was." Dorian chimed in.

Suddenly, the mabari that was with Azariah stood up and walked over to Fiona, and sniffed her a bit, then looked up at her and panted as his short tail wagged. Fiona hesitated a bit at first, after all, spending time in Ferelden, she had heard about the ferociousness of the breed, but she pat his head and he just kept wagging his tail.

Azariah chuckled as she watched this, "He likes you!"

Fiona smiled and kneeled to his level and continued petting him. "He is very cute." He barked happily at that comment. "What's his name?"

"Tucker, his name is Tucker. I got him from a breeder in Highever for my birthday."

"How long have you had him?" Cullen asked.

"For a little over eleven years now, he was only nine weeks old when I got him."

Snow spoke up. "Wait, so does that mean he was with you during the Blight?"

"Yes. He's been with me through everything, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon!" She said happily and pet his lower back, which made him scratch instinctively and he lost his balance because his leg was in the air and just sat down, which made everyone laugh in amusement.

"So, where is Alistair?" Snow asked changing the subject. "I thought he would've arrived with you."

"He couldn't. Ferelden is still a mess, and he had to stay behind for a few more days to deal with it, but he sent word that he was on his way, and he should be here by sometime tonight." Azariah looked at Fiona and suggested, "Maybe you two should talk when he gets here."

"No… it's too late for that…" Fiona sighed, a look of sadness on her face, and when she saw them all looking at her with confusion, she just turned and walked away.

"What was that about?" Dorian asked.

"I don't know." Snow answered. "I just realized that every time the subject of Alistair comes up, she gets this forlorn look on her face, almost like talking about him upsets her."

When Leliana heard Azariah let out a hum in thought, she looked at her and asked, "Do you want me to look into it?"

"No, that's alright. I am going to go talk to her, though." Azariah stood up and followed Fiona's path, up the stairs into the great hall and through the door that led out to the garden with Tucker right behind her. She then noticed Fiona sitting on the steps of the gazebo and walked over. "May I sit?"

Fiona looked up, almost seeming startled that she was there, but then nodded, gesturing to the spot next to her, "Of course, Your Majesty."

"Azariah, please." She corrected her as she sat down. Instead of beating around the bush, Azariah thought it would be best if she just got straight to the point. "So, Snow told me that every time Alistair's name comes up in conversation, you seem upset. Why is that, I wonder?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why is it that whenever someone says "I don't want to talk about it", they really mean "mind your own damn business"?"

"Probably because that is what they mean." Fiona replied with a shrug, staring off into the distance, not really looking at any one thing. "Sorry, Azariah, this is just not something I want to discuss."

"Fair enough. I won't pry, then."

That night, Fiona was once again asleep in her bed…

 _Fiona was in a dark and dingy room that had no doors or windows and was on fire. The flames looked and felt so real that she swore she could actually get burnt if she got too close to them. Strangely, though, the smoke had no effect on her and the fire itself did not appear to be spreading. She found a spot on the wall that wasn't on fire and started pounding on it, "Help! Someone! Anyone!" She cried out._

 _"Fiona!" A deep but comforting voice called back to her, and she froze in place. She knew that voice anywhere, but it couldn't be…_

 _"Maric?!" She looked around frantically and finally spotted him in a room adjacent to the one she was in, which was separated from hers by a wall of flames. "Maric!"_

 _"Fiona!" He called back as he spotted her also. "I knew!" He said, excitedly, but he had to shout as the sounds from the burning fire and crackling wood were nearly deafening. "I just_ knew _that if I kept trying, I'd be able to get into contact with you eventually!"_

 _"What? Get into contact with me?" She asked confused._

 _"You've been having dreams about me recently, haven't you? That was me, trying to reach out to you, but I could never make myself say what I really wanted to, because I was stuck saying everything I did in those memories!"_

 _"Maric… I-" She stopped and took a step back. "Wait! This is impossible! You can't be here!" She shook her head frantically. "You're dead!"_

 _"Fiona, you may be dreaming, but I promise you that this is really me!" Maric pleaded. "I can't maintain this connection to you forever, though, so you need to listen to me! I didn't die! I've been held as a prisoner in Tevinter for the last fifteen years!"_

 _"You're lying!" She shouted. "You're not really Maric! You're some kind of demon trying to trick me into… something!"_

 _"Fiona…" He sighed, genuinely looking upset that she didn't believe him. He tried to quickly think of something that would convince her, and finally got an idea. "Fiona, do you remember the night before you left for Weisshaupt with Duncan after we got back to Denerim?!"_

 _"Yes…"_

 _"You told me that you loved me, for the first time! You said that you were praying we'd see each other again! Then, I told you that-"_

 _She finished for him as she looked at him with tears in her eyes, "You told me that you loved me too, and that you still wished that I could somehow stay in Denerim with you… and that you wanted to marry me."_

 _"Yes! Yes!" Maric said, happy that she had remembered._

 _A few tears fell, "Maric… you're really alive!"_

 _He smiled, but before he could say anything, he heard something and turned around to notice that his side of the dream was quickly shattering into pieces. "Fiona, I can't hold this dream connection together any longer!"_

 _"What? No!" She pleaded, "Maric, please don't go!" She tried to reach through the wall of flames separating them, but quickly recoiled when it burned her arm._

 _"I'm sorry!" He cried, "I love you!"_

"Maric!" Fiona woke up yelling. She looked around frantically, like she had that morning, her chest rising and falling rapidly with her heavy panting. Once again, she found herself in her room. She slowly calmed down and tried to think the whole dream through logically. _'That dream was… far more real than any dream I've ever had before…'_ She thought to herself, and happened to look down at her arm and saw the burn. She touched it gently and it burned as she did, causing her to flinch, but then she realized, "Wait! That was no dream! It was real! Maric's alive!" She quickly jumped out of bed and got bandages to wrap around her arm before rushing out and went to go look for Snow.

Meanwhile, Snow was with Cullen, Azariah, Tucker, Luna Hawke, Bethany, and Fenris in Cullen's office. After getting Varric's letters, Fenris and Bethany had gone to Weisshaupt Fortress together and came back to Skyhold yesterday, with Luna.

All of them watched as Azariah paced back and forth across the floor anxiously. "Calm down, Azariah." Luna spoke up. "You're fretting over nothing. I'm sure Alistair is alright. Besides, you're going to wear a hole in the floor."

"I can't help it. I just have this sickening feeling that something is very wrong. He should have been here by now…"

Snow walked over and gently placed her hand on Azariah's shoulder, "Everything is going to be alright, Azariah, you'll see. He'll be here soon, and you'll see that Luna's right."

Suddenly, the door to the office burst open and Fiona ran in before stopping by the side of Cullen's desk, placing both her hands on it, trying to catch her breath after running all the way there. "Inquisitor, I have a… whew!"

"Slow down, Fiona, take a moment to breathe."

"But I-"

"Breathe!" She ordered, and Fiona took a few slow, deep breaths before she was ready to speak in a normal voice.

"Okay." She sighed. "I know this is going to sound completely crazy, but I…" She paused to think about what to say, and Snow took that opportunity to give her a strange look and reply to what she'd said.

"Fiona, remember that you're talking to the woman who traveled physically through the Fade, _twice_. The woman who traveled into the future in Redcliffe and saw what would've happened if the Inquisition hadn't stopped Corypheus. The woman who finally was able to put an end to both him and his pet dragon. Trust me, _nothing_ will ever sound crazy to me anymore."

"Point taken."

"What happened to your arm?" Cullen suddenly asked after noticing the bandages.

"I'm getting to that right now. I just had a dream where I was in a burning room and Maric was in it."

"Wait, you have a dream about Maric?" Azariah asked, intrigued by that.

"That's just it! It wasn't a dream, not really!" She took off the bandages and showed them all the burn on her arm. "I tried to reach through the flames to grab him, but got burned, and when I woke up… well, here it is! My dream was real, and I know that he's still alive!"

Everyone in the room looked at Fiona oddly and exchanged glances with each other. Then Luna spoke up, "Okay, while I agree with Snow about the fact that nothing should sound crazy to any of us anymore… I call bullshit on that one."

"I have to agree." Azariah added. "Maric has been dead for fifteen years."

"Yeah. I mean, how can you be sure it wasn't just a demon from the Fade trying to trick you?"

"I had a feeling none of you would believe me, but I know that I'm right! Maric is out there somewhere and I am going to find him!"

"Do you even know where to start?" Cullen asked.

"In my vision, he said he was being held prisoner in Tevinter, but… beyond that, I don't know." Her face grew determined. "But I am going to find out and I am going to rescue him!"

Before anyone could say anything else, another person walked into the room, and they all turned to see Morrigan walk in.

"Doesn't anyone knock anymore?" Cullen said, irritably.

"Apologies Commander." Morrigan replied sarcastically. "But Azariah asked me to go scout out the mountains and see if I could find any trace of her husband."

"And?" Azariah asked urgently.

Morrigan sighed and answered, "I found his carriage not too far from here, but all his guards are dead… and he's gone."

"Gone?! What do you mean he's gone?!"

"Do you mean he's dead, too?" Snow asked.

"No, if he were dead, I would have said "he's dead". I mean, gone. Just…" She snapped her fingers, "Vanished."

"Dammit!" Azariah said, worriedly. "I _knew_ something bad had happened!" She walked over to the coat rack and flung her cape back over her shoulders and pulled her hood up. "Morrigan, can you take me back to where his carriage is?"

"I can, but what is it you expect to find? I already scoured the area."

"I don't know, just _something_!" She left the room with Morrigan and Tucker trailing right behind her, and everyone exchanged looks once again before following them.

After heading down to stables and saddling up their horses, they all followed Morrigan out into the mountain passes as she flew overhead in her crow form, and Tucker ran alongside Azariah's horse the whole way. Once Morrigan spotted the carriage again, she flew down and led them right to it, and as soon they all arrived, Azariah jumped off her Anderfel Courser, Caramel, and ran over. The carriage was tipped over and on fire, and the bodies of some royal guards were littered around it. "No! No, no, no!" She said, clearly panicking.

"It definitely looks like the carriage was attacked…" Snow commented. "But by what… or who?"

"Look around!" Azariah ordered.

"There's nothing to find, I already told you that I've scouted the entire area." Morrigan replied.

"Then what's this?" Fiona asked as she picked up a piece of parchment off the ground, the edges of it frayed.

"I figured that it belonged to one of the guards here, or even Alistair."

Azariah took the parchment from Fiona and looked at it more closely. The words were too runny to make out, but she did notice something. "There's a partial seal here, but I don't recognize it. Hm…" She hummed. "Leliana might know."

"What if it turns out to be nothing?" Morrigan asked.

"Then, I'll come back." Azariah got back onto her horse. "Stay here and continue looking."

"Fine, but I have to ask… since when has becoming queen made you so bossy?" Luna asked.

"I apologize if I am acting bossy, but my husband is missing, and I'm not in the best mood."

"She's right." Snow chimed in. "So, leave her alone."

Luna rolled her eyes. "It was just a joke. Sheesh…"

Azariah rode off back to Skyhold, with Tucker once again following her, as the rest of them began searching for any other clues.

Roughly an hour later, Azariah and Tucker came back, and she got off her horse once again. Snow asked, "Did you find out anything?"

"Leliana didn't know what the seal was, either, but as luck would have it, I ran into your friend, Dorian."

"What would Dorian know about it?"

"He recognized the type of parchment this was and when I handed it to him, he recognized the seal, too. It's the seal used by a man named Aurelian Titus and his servants."

"Shit!" Fenris said, which drew everyone's attention.

"Know him, Fenris?" Luna asked.

"I met him once when I was still Danarius's slave. There are rumors that he worships the Old Gods and that he killed Archon Davan in 9:29." He looked back at Azariah. "If he's somehow involved with your husband's disappearance, then he's in serious danger."

All the color seemed to drain from Azariah's face in panic. "I have to get to Tevinter, then! Now!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Morrigan cried and stepped in front of her friend to stop her. "Hold on! You can't just drop everything and head to Tevinter! How do you think the magisters would even react to the Queen of Ferelden showing up unannounced?"

"She has a point." Fenris said. "You can't just stroll right into the country and start asking questions. They'll kill you; it won't matter who you are."

"Then what am I supposed to do? I can't just sit on my ass doing nothing!"

"No one is suggesting that, either," Luna walked over. "But this will require discretion."

"You're right…"

"Azariah, wait!" Fiona spoke up. "If you're going to Tevinter, then let me come with you! I have to go to Tevinter, too, remember?"

"If we're heading to Tevinter, we need to figure out how we're getting there." Luna spoke up.

"We? You're coming now, too?"

"Yes. You're my friend, and I'm certainly not about to let you two have all the fun!"

"You're not going without me!" Fenris said to his girlfriend sternly.

"You want to go to Tevinter? But I thought you said you would never go back."

"I don't _want_ to, but I am not letting you leave me behind again, definitely not if you're going _there_!"

After they all agreed that they were all going to go, Luna got an idea. "We're going to need a ship to get us there… and I have _just_ the one in mind!" She smirked.

––

I thought I'd leave you all with a bit of suspense, but don't worry, I'll be updating again soon! Let me know what you all think, and if you like it, feel free to favorite it or follow it, or both! Lol!

So, I did a bit of editing to this chapter and will with the others as well! Hope you enjoy the few changes.

See you all in the next chapter!


	2. Confessions

In a dark dungeon underneath an extravagant mansion in Minrathous, a man with long blonde hair sat in the back corner of a cell. He was chained to the wall by his wrists; the chains were long enough to allow him to stand up and move his arms, but he couldn't move from his current location. Suddenly, he heard the doors to the dungeon open and a couple sets of heavy footsteps coming down the wooden staircase, and it also sounded like they were dragging something behind them since there was a thump after every step. When they finally came into view from the light of the few torches hanging on the wall, he saw that one of them was Aurelian Titus himself.

"How are you doing in there, Your Majesty?" Aurelian asked, smugly, which only caused Maric to glare at him. "It's your own damn fault for trying to escape for the thousandth time. When will you learn that you can't outsmart me?"

Maric smirked and replied, "What makes you think I haven't already? Maybe I've sent out a message to someone that I'm still alive after all."

"You're bluffing." He then turned back to his slave who was still carrying the unconscious body of Alistair that they had been carrying. "I didn't come down here to simply chat with you, however." He grabbed the back of Alistair's coat with one hand and opened the cell door with his other. He then tossed him into the cell, and his body hit the floor hard. "It took some time to finally get ahold of your precious son, but it was worth it!"

"My son?!" Maric growled and tried to lunge at Aurelian, but the chains on his wrists prevented him from doing so. "You bastard! When I finally get my hands on you, I will make you suffer!"

"Maybe, but that hasn't seemed to work out too well for you so far, has it?" He slammed the cell door shut again and locked it. "Have fun with your boy!" He then walked out with a smug smirk on his face, followed closely by his slave.

Maric knew that fighting against the restraints was useless, so he just sat back down on the makeshift chair and looked down his still comatose son. He knew immediately that it was Alistair, because even though he'd been a prisoner for fifteen years, he'd still heard about Cailan's death. Alistair was wearing brown leather outfit that was lined with white fur and a matching pair of leather boots (the outfit he wore in Redcliffe). Maric also noticed that his breathing was shallow, and it looked as though he had been beaten, which was likely since Aurelian was not known for being a "gentle" man, but it still made Maric's blood burn with rage seeing Alistair in such a state.

–

Meanwhile, back at Skyhold, it was morning now, and the sun came up over the mountains, bathing all of the fortress in its light. Fiona was in the upper courtyard with Luna, Fenris, Azariah, Tucker, and Varric, and was pacing back and forth impatiently. "I still don't understand why you want us to take your friend's ship to Tevinter." Fiona said. "I mean, I don't want to wait around while she finishes up her pirating and takes her sweet time even getting here."

"I have to agree with Fiona." Azariah said. "The ones who took Alistair could already be halfway back to Minrathous by now, and I don't want Isabela taking us off the trail for a detour to go raid some cargo ship."

"Okay, first, there is absolutely no way they could've traveled that fast. Secondly, will you two relax?" Luna sighed. "I'm sure everything is going to turn out fine."

"Hawke, do you even pay attention to the shit that happens in our lives? When has everything ever "turned out fine"?"

"You're not helping, Varric…" She sighed deeply. Just then, a messenger bird flew over and landed on Luna's arm when she held it up towards it. She then took the note off the bird and let it stand on her shoulder while she read it. She smiled and told them, "Isabela says she's only about a day's trip to the nearest port, which is just over the mountains. If we leave now, we can be on her ship and on our way to Tevinter by tomorrow."

Azariah and Fiona exchanged shocked expressions before agreeing and the five of them split up to go and tell the others. They split up five ways because Tucker once again went with Azariah, naturally.

–

Back in the cell with Maric and Alistair, Alistair started to wake up and groaned, holding his head in his hand as it pounded. He had his back towards Maric so he didn't even realize he wasn't alone until he heard his voice, "You're awake."

Alistair gasped in surprise as he looked back at him. "Huh? Who are you? Where am I? What's going on?" He asked quickly.

"Well… that's kind of a long story…" He then clarified, "My part in it is anyway."

"What?"

"Nothing." Maric sighed and used his foot to gently push over a pitcher of water. "Here, you should drink." Alistair hesitated, but he wrapped his hand gently around his throat as he opened his mouth a bit. His throat was parched so he threw caution to the wind and started chugging down water. "Take it easy. Don't drink it all at once. That's likely the only water we'll get for a couple days."

"…Thanks." He put the pitcher down and stated, "You never _did_ answer my questions. Who are you?"

"I'm not surprised that you don't recognize me, Alistair…"

Alistair looked shocked and then glared at him, skeptically, "How do you know my name all of a sudden?"

"I know your name… I know who you are, because… I'm your father."

"What? That's impossible! My father was King Maric, and he's been dead for years! There's no way!"

"I know it sounds crazy, but I swear, I'm telling the truth. Why would I lie about this?"

"To see if it will gain my trust? To mess with my mind? Who knows!"

"Alistair, I would _never_ do that to you."

"Really?" He scoffed. "…If you really are Maric, then tell me… why did you abandon Cailan? Why did you abandon Ferelden?"

Maric sighed deeply, "That's a _very_ long story… but short version, during the war with Orlais, Loghain and I were saved by a mysterious woman in the Korcari Wilds. In exchange for helping, though, she asked something of me. After you and Cailan were old enough, I faked my death and went to Antiva to meet up with a woman named Yavana, and she brought me here to Tevinter, but as soon as we crossed the border, I was captured by Aurelian. I don't know why he's kept me alive so long rather than just kill me, but whatever the reason, it can't be good." He looked at Alistair regrettably, "And now he's captured you, too… I'm so sorry you got dragged into my mess."

Alistair scoffed again as he leaned up against the bars of the cell and folded his arms across his chest. "Don't try to pretend like you suddenly care about me!"

"What? But I _do_ care about you, Alistair, I always have!"

"Bullshit!" He shouted. "If you cared about me, you would've never given me away, pawning me off on your brother-in-law! If you cared about me, you would've never ignored me my entire life and make me feel like I was an unwanted nuisance!"

"Alistair, I…"

"Shut up!" Alistair snapped. "Even if you are really Maric, you are _not_ my father! You never were!" He then stomped over to the other side of the cell and sat down on the floor angrily.

Maric sat there, stunned and saddened, Alistair's words had cut his heart deeper than any blade could have, and he simply hung his head, feeling lower than he had in a long time.

–

The next day, Azariah, Fiona, Luna, Snow, Fenris, Cullen, Bethany, Dorian, and Varric had met up with Isabela at the docks and got aboard her ship before starting their journey to Tevinter. Azariah had thanked Isabela profusely for letting them take her ship to Tevinter and promised that she'd pay her back somehow once Alistair was safe. Now, Azariah was on the deck, looking out over the horizon as the sun glistened off the clear, blue water.

"Azariah…?" A voice said, and she immediately knew who it was.

"Hi Snow."

Snow walked up and stood next to her before breaking the silence once again. "Are you alright?"

Azariah let out a deep sigh, "No. No, I'm really not. I'm terrified that we'll be too late, and I'll find Alistair dead…"

"That won't happen."

"How do you know?"

Before Snow could answer, Luna joined the conversation, apparently overhearing what they'd said, "You don't take someone home just to kill them, Azariah. It's messy."

"Then what do they want with him?"

"I don't know, but I _do_ know that they'll keep him alive."

"Excuse me…" Fiona spoke up as she walked over. The three of them looked at her and she asked, "Would you two mind if I talked to Azariah alone for a few minutes?"

"Why?" Luna asked. "We're her friends, so I'm sure that whatever you have to say to her, you can say in front of us, too."

"No, I can't. It's a private matter… you might even say it's personal."

When Luna and Snow looked back at Azariah, she tilted her head to the side as a signal for them to leave, and they did without argument. "So, what is it you need to talk about?"

Fiona walked up and stood where Snow had been, next to her. "Well, I've been thinking about our conversation back at Skyhold and what might happen when we get to Tevinter. There's a good chance that if this Aurelian man is responsible for Alistair's disappearance, then he could also be responsible for Maric's disappearance."

"Possibly," Azariah agreed. "But what does that have to do with our discussion back at Skyhold?"

"Well… you asked why I get upset whenever Alistair is mentioned, and I think you should know why. After all, if we _do_ find Maric and Alistair together, you are bound to find out, anyway. So, you may as well hear it straight from me."

"Alright. What is it, then?"

Fiona looked around to make sure no one was within hearing distance. "I'm sure you know that I was once a warden like you?"

"Yes…?"

"And I…I met Maric when I was sent to Ferelden with a few other wardens to ask for his help." Fiona intertwined her fingers nervously as she continued with her story. "I was part of the expedition into the Deep Roads with him, and… during that time, Maric and I… well, we became close."

"Close? As in…?"

Fiona nodded and finished, "We were lovers."

"And if this is about Alistair, then that means…" Her eyes widened in realization and she stared back at Fiona. "You're Alistair's mother?!"

"Shh! Azariah, please, keep your voice down!"

Azariah then glared. "And why should I do that?! Why shouldn't I just yell it out for everyone to hear?!" She shouted. "I can't believe you! You've been alive all this time, even meeting Alistair after the mage rebellion, and you never bothered to tell him the truth?! Do you even care about him at all?!"

"Of course I did!" Fiona insisted. "I still do! It's just that… I didn't want him to be looked down on and hated because his mother is an elf and a mage…" She bowed her head, sadly. "I wanted him to have a happy and normal life, and that's not something I could have ever given him… that's why Maric didn't take him in, either. We both agreed that having him grow up away from us was what was best for him."

"What was best for him?!" Azariah growled. "So letting him believe his entire life that his mother was someone else and that Maric hated him was what was best for him?! I don't buy it! You obviously _never_ thought about him or what he wanted!" She sighed deeply, rubbing her temple in frustration. "I can't believe I actually admired you!"

"Admired me?"

"Yes. I admired the strength and courage it took for you to stand up to the chantry and fight for the freedom of mages. I may not be a mage myself, but I still have seen firsthand how they were treated, and I admired you for finally taking that step. But now…" She shook her head. "Now I don't have any admiration for you at all! Alistair deserves better than you and Maric! You're a horrible mother, you know that!" Azariah didn't let Fiona say anything as she walked off right after she was done talking.

–

It had now been almost a whole day since Maric had tried explaining things to Alistair, and neither had spoken anything since. The only sounds in the dungeon now were the water dripping down from the barred window after it had rained earlier, along with the slight footsteps of people walking overhead. Someone had come down earlier to give them food and fresh water, but did nothing else, and was gone just as quickly as they had arrived.

Maric finally couldn't take the silence anymore. "Alistair, are you ever going to talk to me?"

"I have nothing more to say to you." Alistair growled back, never looking at him.

"Fine. I'll do all the talking, then."

"There's nothing you can say that I am interested in hearing."

Maric sighed, but talked anyway, "Alistair, I know that you hate me… but please just give me a chance to explain. Despite what you think, you're my son and I love you, I always have." Alistair pretended to ignore him, but _was_ curious about what he had to say, so he listened. "Your mother and I agreed that we wanted you to have a normal life. After all, with your mother being both an elf and a mage…" Alistair's eyes widened at that and he looked back at Maric, shocked, but he didn't seem to notice as he continued, "And me being King, you couldn't have a normal life with us. Your mother didn't want you to be hated because of her, and I didn't want you to be dragged into politics because of me."

"Wait!" Alistair said. "My mother was an elven mage?!"

"You didn't know? I thought you would've found that out by now, but… yes, to answer your question. She and I met when she was still a warden and… well, we never meant to fall in love, but it happened."

"…An elven mage who was once a warden?" Alistair froze in realization, but managed to ask, "Her name wouldn't happen to be… Fiona, by any chance, would it?"

It was Maric's turn to look surprised. "You've met her?"

(Flashback!)

 _Alistair walked into the main hall of Redcliffe Castle after his guards had marched in and secured the room. "Grand Enchanter, imagine how surprised I was to learn you've given Redcliffe Castle over to a Tevinter magister!" He growled, angrily._

 _Fiona walked over slowly, her head bowed in submission, almost like a dog who's being scolded. "King Alistair!"_

 _"Especially since I'm fairly sure Redcliffe belongs to Arl Teagan!"_

 _"Your Majesty… we never intended-"_

 _"I know what you intended! …I wanted to help you, but you've made it impossible!" He shook his head in frustration. "You and your followers are no longer welcome in Ferelden!"_

 _"But… we have_ hundreds _who need protection! Where will we go?"_

 _Snow walked over and spoke up, "I should point out that the Inquisition did come here for mages to close the breach."_

 _"And what are the terms of this arrangement?"_

 _"Hopefully better than what Alexius gave you." Dorian said. "The Inquisition_ is _better than that, yes?"_

 _"I suggest conscripting them." Cassandra advised. "They've proven what they'll do given too much freedom."_

 _"I've known a lot of mages." Varric then advised, "They can be loyal friends if you let them. Friends who make bad decisions, but, still… loyal."_

 _"It seems we have little choice but to accept whatever you offer." Fiona said to Snow._

 _"I can see that once again, it's up to me to make the decision…" Snow sighed and thought it over for a moment, weighing the pros and cons in her head, and then announced, "We would be honored to have you fight as allies at the Inquisition's side."_

 _"We'll discuss this… later." Cassandra said, obviously disapproving._

 _"I pray the rest of the Inquisition honors your promise, then."_

 _"The breach threatens all of Thedas; we cannot afford to be divided now. We can't close it without you, so any chance of success requires your full support."_

 _"I'd take that offer if I were you." Alistair said to Fiona, "One way or another, you're leaving my Kingdom!"_

 _Fiona looked down sadly._

"Alistair!" Maric called, snapping Alistair out of his thoughts.

"I'm fine…"

"Are you?"

"It's nothing."

–

Back on Isabela's ship, Fiona had thought about everything Azariah had said to her, and after some consideration, she decided to go find her. She walked all throughout the ship before she finally found Azariah alone down in the lower deck, where all the cargo was stored, and also where they were keeping the horses, which Azariah was taking care of at the moment. "Azariah…"

"What do you want?" She growled.

"We need to talk. I've thought about what you told me, and… everything you said was true." Azariah stopped brushing her horse's coat, but didn't look back at Fiona, just listening to what she said with her back to her. "I never did consider how my actions might make Alistair feel and what was really best for him. I know he'll probably never forgive me, but I have to try… and I need your help to do so." Azariah was silent, so Fiona continued. "And after Alistair and Maric are freed, you two can go back to Denerim, cutting me out of your lives forever, and…and that will be fine." She started tearing up and let out a sob. "Because I know that I hurt him and I don't deserve for him to even like me, and you can walk away knowing that you were right! I really _am_ a horrible mother!" She lowered her head and sniffed as tears rolled down her face.

"Yes, you are," Azariah agreed, but then turned around, showing that she was actually smiling. "But part of being a family is being able to forgive one another." Fiona let out a small laugh, then wiped her eyes with her sleeve as she sniffed again. "Alright, come here." Azariah opened her arms, and Fiona walked over, giving her a hug. "We'll get Maric and Alistair back, together."

Fiona pulled back from the hug and smiled at her. "Thank you. I'm glad my son has you. He deserves that much, at least!"

––

Well, here's the second chapter! Hope you're all enjoying this story, and don't worry, I'm getting to the action and adventure! Lol! If you have any suggestions, though, do not hesitate to tell me, I am always open to new ideas!

See you in the next one!


	3. Really a New Beginning?

Okay, just a heads up, I am going to skip through some time in this chapter, because to write the whole trip to Tevinter would take too long, and honestly… I don't have many ideas.

So, just wanted to let you know. Now, here we go with chapter three!

––

It had been a few weeks since the group had set sail for Tevinter, and they were now almost to the docks of Qarinus. Azariah was on the upper deck looking out at the docks that were slowly coming into view through the mists.

"Finally, we're here." Fiona said as she walked up to stand next to her. "These have been the longest four weeks of my life."

"Mine, too." Azariah agreed, and then noticed what Fiona had changed into. Instead of her usual enchanter robe, she was wearing a red and white dress with a red cape and hood to go with it. "Where did you get that?"

"I've had this for a long time." Fiona answered, looking down at herself. "I'm amazed it still fits."

"It looks good on you." Azariah complimented.

"Thank you."

Dorian walked over to them and spoke up, "Excuse me, ladies, but would you two mind joining us down on the main deck? There's a few things I need to tell everyone before we dock."

"Oh, of course." Azariah answered for both of them, and they followed Dorian down to the main deck where everyone else already was. "What do you need to tell us?"

"I know that all of you are southerners." Dorian said, but Fenris cleared his throat, so he corrected, " _Almost_ all of you, and I need to tell you that a lot of things are done differently in Tevinter."

"Yeah, we already know that. Thank you for pointing out the obvious." Fenris replied, sarcastically.

"Fine, here I was trying to help by giving you some useful advice, but since you already know everything, why should I?" Dorian asked, sarcastically also.

"No, Dorian! Wait!" Snow pleaded. "If you have any advice, please tell us. We need all the help we can get."

"I agree," Luna spoke, and then looked at her boyfriend. "Fenris can ease up on the sarcasm."

"I just don't understand why we're going to put our trust in a Tevinter mage."

"Because he may be our only hope in finding Alistair and Maric." Azariah pointed out.

"Exactly." Luna agreed, and warned him. "So, play nice, Fenris."

"Fine. I'll be… nice."

"Thank you, Luna." Dorian said, and then continued with where he left off. "Now, since things are so different here, you all need to listen to me and do as I say. Don't let your guards down, because you never know who you can really trust here. So just keep your mouths shut, your eyes open, and follow my lead."

"I hope you have a plan for actually finding Maric and Alistair." Fiona said.

"I do, actually. There's a tavern in Qarinus called _The Blue Swan_ where the rich and powerful gather to swap gossip. If there's any place we can find a lead on where to find them, it's there."

"Excellent! I knew you'd have something for us, Dorian!" Snow said happily.

"Well, contrary to what _some_ people believe," He said, gesturing towards Fenris. "Not all of we Tevinter mages are evil bastards."

Fenris just snorted in anger.

"Prepare to dock, men!" Isabela called out at the wheel of the ship as they pulled into the port, and the raiders around them quickly hauled up the sails and grabbed the ropes to secure the ship once it had docked.

Once the ship was docked, secured, and had a ramp put on to allow people off, Azariah walked over to it and Dorian walked up beside her, "Welcome to Qarinus."

Meanwhile, at Aurelian Titus's mansion, he was once again in the dungeon with Maric and Alistair and was doing something at an alchemy setup he had down there. For some reason, he had taken blood from both of them and was now trying to do something with it, but was very secretive about what. "Fasta vas!" He cursed as he shoved of the beakers off the table which broke them as they hit the floor. "There has to be a way!"

"Master!" One of his slaves called out as they entered the dungeon.

"What?!" He snarled.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but you need to see this." The slave handed Aurelian a bluish colored stone, and he took it before waving a hand over it, using his magic to open a viewing portal. He saw Azariah on the deck of the ship and Dorian walk up next to her, saying, "Welcome to Qarinus."

"They're here in Tevinter?!" He growled angrily.

"Looks like your luck is finally running out." Maric said from the cell with a smirk, but quickly stopped when Aurelian grabbed the vial containing Alistair's blood and used it and his magic to make Alistair cry out and writhe in pain. He did it just to show Maric what he could do to his son if he mouthed off again. "No, wait! I'm sorry, just please stop hurting him!" He cried pleadingly.

Aurelian did stop before turning back to his elven slave. "Tell everyone to pack up everything! We're leaving!"

"Leaving? Where are we going?"

"To Seheron! They won't dare follow us there! Now _go_!"

"Yes master!" The slave quickly left the room to go spread his master's orders.

"Now, while he's doing that, I am going to go deal with our new arrivals." Aurelian put the stone in his pocket as he walked up the stairs out of the dungeon with a purpose.

Back with everyone else, they made it to the _Blue Swan_ , and Dorian turned to everyone. "Alright. I should probably go in there alone."

"Alone? Why?" Fiona asked.

"Because if you all come in with me, no one in there is likely to tell us what we need to know. You're just going to have to trust me on this."

"Fine."

"Good, wait here. I'll be out as soon as I learn what we need to know." With that, Dorian walked into the tavern.

After some time had passed, they were all still waiting as Dorian still hadn't come back out yet. "Dammit, we could've found Aurelian's location ourselves by now!" Azariah growled. "What the fuck is taking him so long?"

"Azariah, relax." Luna said comfortingly, trying to calm her down. "It's only been a half an hour, and discretion takes time."

"Yeah, and while we're wasting time, Alistair and Maric are out there, probably getting tortured!"

"Azariah, you've been under a lot of stress lately, and I get it, you're worried about Alistair, but you really need to relax."

"I'll relax when I know Alistair is safe!"

"I'll be back." Varric suddenly said. "I got to take a piss."

"Too much information, Varric…" Bethany mumbled.

Another minute or so passed before Dorian finally left and had a woman behind him. "Hi. Sorry it took me so long. It took a while to find someone who was willing to tell me anything." He motioned to the woman with him, "This is Maevaris Tilani*."

"Hi." She greeted to all of them and placed her arm on Dorian's shoulder. "Dorian and I are old friends, so I thought it only fair that I help him out. He tells me that you're all looking for Aurelian Titus?"

"Yes, do you know where he lives?" Fiona asked.

"I know where his mansion is, yes, but I feel I have to warn you… Aurelian is a dangerous man. People associated with him have a habit of being found face down in a ditch."

"I don't care." Azariah chimed in. "Where does he live?"

"In a mansion in the capital; it's an old place, but well taken care of."

"Take us there!"

"I can't, sorry."

"What?! Why not?!"

"Two reasons: one, it's all the way in Minrathous, which is across the Nocen Sea from here. Two: because if I take you there, you're going to try storming the place, and if you do that, you're going to be knee-deep in his friends. Not to mention, whoever you came here for will probably be dead long before you can reach them. No, you need to meet him on equal footing."

"And how do we do that?" Luna asked.

"As it so happens, I'm having a party at my mansion here in Qarinus, in a few days. All the most important people will be there, and I can get you in."

"A few days?!" Azariah cried.

"Yes, in a few days."

"I can't just wait around here for a few days! I need to rescue my husband now!"

"Your husband? So that's who you came here to find." Maevaris shook her head. "Well, look, I'm sorry, but I already told you why you can't just go and storm his mansion."

"She's right. Meeting him at the party would be the ideal place, since he can't outright murder you in public, even if you ask questions." Dorian added. "However… Tevinter parties _are_ … delicate affairs. They can sometimes even make Orlesian parties look like child's play."

"So, what do we do?" Fiona asked.

Just then, Varric came back and saw who was there. "Maevaris?! Is that you?!"

"Varric!" She said happily and rushed over, both of them giving each other kisses on each cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here with all of them because Hawke insisted."

"You two know each other?" Luna asked, astonished.

"Yes, this is Maevaris!" Varric said. "She was married to my cousin, Thorold."

"Was?" Fenris wondered.

"He died…" Maevaris said, sadly.

"Not that this isn't fascinating, but can we get back to the main issue?" Azariah asked, then looked back at Dorian. "Now, what do we do?"

"Do what I told you before: keep your mouths shut, your eyes open, and follow my lead."

That evening, Azariah was in one of the guest bedrooms of the Tilani family mansion; Maevaris had offered to let them all stay there while they waited for the night of the party. She was sitting at the desk in the room and writing in her journal when there was a gentle knock on the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Azariah," Fiona's voice said through the door. "May I come in?"

"Yes, come in." Azariah answered, and Fiona did just that. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, I… actually wanted to ask you the same question." Fiona sat down at the edge of the bed, facing Azariah. "I wanted to make sure that you're holding up alright. You've been temperamental lately, and I understand that it's because of your concern for Alistair, but I'm also worried about you. So, please…" Fiona said, genuinely. "If you need to talk, then talk to me."

Azariah sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I appreciate that you're concerned about me, but really… what is there to say? Alistair, and maybe even Maric, are out there somewhere and all we can do now is sit and wait?"

"I don't like it, either, but what other choice do we have?"

Azariah just sighed before turning back to Fiona. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Where are you from, originally?"

"Orlais."

"I got that from the accent. Where in Orlais?"

"Montsimmard, it's a city on the outskirts of the Dales, not very far from the shore of Lake Celestine."

"Do you miss it?"

"No."

"Really? No ties worth mentioning?"

"No." She said again, and then added, "My mother died when I was very young, and my father did his best to raise me on his own; after he died, I left. I was there when I was in the circle, but I never went into the city."

"I'm guessing you were raised in the alienage?"

"Do you really think they'd allow elves in cities to live anywhere else?"

"Right, of course." Azariah sighed and shook her head, "It's just sad how some people treat elves. Some of my best friends have been elves. Why should the shape of your ears determine how or where you get to live?"

"I don't know, but I'm glad to see that you're not prejudiced against my kind."

"I've always held fast to the belief that it doesn't matter who or what you are. If you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you, simple as that."

Fiona smiled at her kindly. "Which is why I'm glad that Alistair married you."

"And I'm glad I got to marry him." Azariah replied with a smile of her own. She started writing in her journal again before stopping and speaking up again, "So, let me ask you something else…" Fiona looked at her expectantly, waiting for the question. "Do you love Maric?"

"I do."

"Then why did you leave him?"

Fiona let out a long sigh, and then answered, "Many reasons."

"Such as?"

"I'm an elven mage, for one…"

"Why does that matter? Does being an elven mage really weigh on you that much?"

"No, not as much as it used to, but that's not what I meant. Do you really believe the people of Ferelden would have accepted their king taking an elven mage as a mistress? Plus, the fact that Alistair was born also complicated matters."

"So, what? Don't tell me you saw Alistair as an inconvenience…"

"No!" Fiona said, and shook her head, "That came out wrong! What I _mean_ is that Maric and I agreed that we both wanted Alistair to have a normal life, so if I had stayed and we'd raised him together, he would have had anything but a normal life." She sighed and added sadly, "What a load of good that did in the end, it seems… since he ended up having anything but a normal life anyway…"

Azariah looked at Fiona regrettably, and there was silence in the room for a moment or two before she spoke up. "Well… maybe this is all happening for a reason. Maybe this is a chance for you to start over, not just with Alistair, but with Maric, too. If…" She stopped and corrected herself, " _When_ we find them, we'll free them, and then we'll all head back to Ferelden together. From there…" She shrugged. "Who can say? But this could be nothing more than a fresh start… for all of us."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah." She answered. "I have to believe that this is not the end… but a new beginning."

––

*Maevaris Tilani – She's a Dragon Age character from the comic books, but she is also mentioned – and has a small war table operation – in Inquisition.

Hey! I was going to make this chapter longer, but then I thought that this would be a good place to leave it until the next chapter! See you all then!


	4. The Power of Blood

A few nights later, they all were still at the Tilani family mansion for the party, all wearing formal attire. Once they were all in ballroom, they avoided staying around each other for too long as to not attract attention. Snow stayed with Dorian and Cullen, Maevaris stayed with Dorian, Azariah and Fiona simply talked to each other, while Luna, Bethany, Isabela, and Fenris talked to others.

About twenty minutes passed before someone came in with a few followers behind him, and it seemed like everything in the room went silent as he did.

"Presenting Aurelian Titus, senior member of the Magisterium." The announcer by the door said as he had entered. Aurelian was wearing an entirely black outfit with a black cape and a red sash tied around his waist.

Azariah was just about to walk over when Fiona stopped her by placing her hand on Azariah's shoulder, and whispered, "Easy…"

"Right." Azariah sighed, trying to contain her anger. She hadn't felt hatred like this since her fight with Rendon Howe.

Aurelian walked over to Maevaris and said, "Quite the assemblage you've gathered tonight, Tilani."

"Yes, I certainly think so." She agreed. "Nice of you to make it all the way from Minrathous."

Aurelian picked up a glass of wine from the tray that one of the slaves was carrying as she passed by him, and he held it up in an almost toasting manner to Maevaris. "I wouldn't have missed this; I would've been quite distressed had I not received an invitation."

 _'That's it!'_ Azariah thought and stormed over before Fiona could stop her again. "Aurelian Titus!"

"Do I know you?" He asked, even though he did know exactly who she was.

"I'm Azariah Theirin, and I know that you captured my husband!"

"Ah!" Aurelian said in understanding, and smirked, "The lovely "Hero of Ferelden" in the flesh! You came all this way looking for… your husband, did you say? Well, I'm sorry to say that I know very little about… Alistair, is it?"

"Stop playing coy! I know that you know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Now, now…" Maevaris said, stepping in between them. "There's no need to cause a scene." She glared at Azariah with a look that clearly said "stop".

"I am not one to ruin a party," Aurelian said. "But I believe a scene has already been caused. After all, it was quite rude of her to spout such an accusation, and she needs to be taught a lesson." He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, they were a pitch black color. "So, fall." He attempted to use blood magic on her, but was suddenly stopped when Azariah interrupted his magic with the templar skills that Alistair had taught her. Aurelian fell to his knees, and the whole room was dead silent for a moment.

"Do you have any idea what you've just done?" Dorian whispered to her angrily.

"A templar…" Aurelian growled and stood up, ordering to his men, "Kill her!"

Fighting broke out amongst Aurelian's men, Azariah, and everyone with her at the party, while the other guests just tried to get away. In all the commotion, Aurelian took this as an opportunity to leave, and Azariah caught a glimpse of him as he did. "He's getting away!" She called and tried to run after him, but was grabbed from behind by one of Aurelian's men and could've gotten seriously hurt had Isabela not come up behind the man and slit his throat, quickly and cleanly.

"Fight first, pursue after!" Isabela said to her as she put her back against Azariah's so that no one could sneak up behind either of them.

With all of them fighting, they quickly took down all of Aurelian's men, and Azariah used her sword, Starfang, to stab and kill the last of them. She then ran out of the ballroom and straight out the front doors, looking around frantically for Aurelian as soon as she was outside, and spotted him not too far away. "Hey!" She ran over and tried to catch him, but he suddenly was surrounded by a swirl of smoke and disappeared before she made it all the way over. She grinded to a stop and cursed, "Dammit!" She punched the wall closest to her. "Dammit! I was so fucking close!"

"Azariah!" Snow called as she and everyone else ran over to her.

"Where's Aurelian?" Fiona asked.

"…I lost him."

"You know this is your fault!" Dorian accused.

"How the fuck is this _my_ fault?!" Azariah yelled.

"You used your templar abilities to interrupt his magic!"

"Yeah, and if I hadn't, he would've seriously injured, if not killed me! I defended myself!"

"Use your brain, Azariah!" He scolded, "You're in a country ruled by mages! Of course they're going to make it illegal to use southern templar abilities, especially against a _magister_! Why do you think it all went south after you did that?!"

"It's illegal to have southern templar abilities?" Azariah asked before sarcastically replying, "Well, that would have been a good thing to know, say… twenty minutes ago!"

"Both of you! Just stop!" Fiona yelled, and they both looked at her. "Look, Aurelian got away, but yelling at each other is not going to solve anything! The best thing we can do now is go to Minrathous and straight to his mansion! After all, he already knows we're here and that we're after him, so what's the point of discretion now?"

Azariah sighed deeply. "She's right, there's no point in hanging around here anymore, and there's no point in yelling at each other. We need to work together."

"How did he get away?" Luna asked.

"He surrounded himself in a smoke somehow and the next thing I knew, he was gone."

"Teleportation magic…" Fenris said. "That would explain why when we were searching around Alistair's carriage in the mountains, the footprints just disappeared! He brought Alistair straight to Tevinter, not needing a ship or anything!"

"Which means Alistair's been here for more than four weeks!" Bethany said, and Fenris nodded.

"All the more reason to leave _now_!" Azariah said.

"So, we're heading to Minrathous?" Varric asked, and turned to Maevaris. "Are you coming with us, Mae?"

"I can't, sorry. If you forgot, that is my mansion you all tore up back there, so I need to go back and make sure everything is fine."

"I'll send you coin for any damages." Azariah promised.

"No, that's alright." Maevaris smirked, seeming amused. "This was actually the best party I've thrown in a long time!"

"Good, glad we could spice things up for you!" Luna joked, and then looked back at Azariah, "Come on, we should go."

"Right. Thank you again for everything, Maevaris, but we really need to get to Minrathous as quickly as possible."

"Don't mention it. Any friends of Dorian and Varric are friends of mine!" She replied and waved to them as they ran off towards the docks.

When they all got to the docks, Azariah looked around and then turned to Isabela, "Isabela… is there any particular reason why your ship is gone?"

Isabela laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, about that… um… the crew was getting rather restless. After all, they're raiders, they're not used to ferrying people around, so I gave them leave to do a little raiding while we were here. I know Zev will keep them in line while I'm gone!" (Yes, Zevran is Isabela's first mate, since I didn't mention that before.)

"Well that's just great!" Azariah growled sarcastically. "Now how are we going to get to Minrathous?!"

Isabela looked around and gestured over to the stables, "They left your horses here."

"Riding all the way to Minrathous from here will take about three or four days." Dorian said. "Since we need to go all the way around the Nocen Sea."

"And how long would it have taken if we sailed?" Fiona asked.

"About a day."

"Isabela…" Azariah growled. "You remember how I promised you your weight in gold once Alistair was safe?"

"Yes?"

"Yeah, well, consider it now cut in half!" Azariah yelled and stormed passed her and over to the stables, which weren't that far away from the docks.

After they had saddled up their horses, and even borrowed a carriage from the stables to attach to a couple of them since there were a few extra people than horses, they set off for Minrathous.

After about a day's journey, they were all travelling down a dirt road through a large forested area, and things were pretty silent between all of them. There was a thick mist all around them, to the point where it was almost creepy, but they continued on. Azariah and her horse, Caramel, were at the back of the group when Azariah suddenly heard an all too familiar voice calling her. She pulled back on the reins, making Caramel stop and looked around, and from a distance, she heard it again. "Alistair?" She then saw a figure through the mists. "Alistair!" She got off Caramel and tied her to a branch, but Caramel let out a concerned neigh and stomped her hoof, trying to tell Azariah not to go. Azariah simply placed her hand against Caramel's nose and pet her calmly. "I'll be right back." Azariah then disappeared into the mists, despite Caramel's insistent whinnying.

Azariah went deeper into the mists and then heard Alistair's voice again, "Azariah!" The voice called. "Azariah, help me!"

"Alistair!" She saw his silhouette through the mists again. "Alistair!" She ran forward to try and catch him, but he then ran off. She stopped for a moment and was stunned that he'd just ran off, but when she saw him again further ahead, she ran towards him again. Unbeknownst to her, she was being led somewhere as another figure watched her from the shadows…

Meanwhile, back with everyone else, Fiona looked behind the group to check on Azariah like she had been every couple hours or so, but was shocked to see her gone. "Stop!" She cried, and everyone did just that.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Snow asked.

"Azariah's gone!"

"What?!" Luna cried and looked behind them, too. "That's impossible! Where did she go?!"

Fiona flicked the reins on her black horse and had it gallop back the way they came to see if she could find any trace of Azariah. She then had her horse make a hard stop when she found Caramel, who was desperately trying to get free of her reins that were tied to the branch. Fiona got off her horse and over to Caramel as she whinnied at her.

Everyone else caught up and Luna said, "Azariah can't be far if Caramel is here; she'd never abandon her."

Fiona untied Caramel's reins from the branch and she immediately took off in the direction that Azariah had, and Fiona hopped back on her horse. "Follow her!" She ordered and her horse did just that as everyone else tried to keep up.

Back with Azariah, she had followed Alistair's voice and silhouette all the way to a massive cave. She was hesitant to head inside, but when she heard his voice from in there, concern overthrew caution and she headed in. She found herself in a huge cavern that was lit up with what looked like giant blue gems. "Whoa…" She gasped, amazed. She was at the top of a massive, crumbling stairwell that descended far down into the cave; at the bottom, in a huge, open area, she saw Alistair standing there, and she ran down the stairs as fast as she could, and hugged him. "Alistair! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"You haven't yet." Another voice said, and Azariah whipped around to see a woman with jet black hair and bright yellow eyes, wearing a white faceplate with a red and black robe and matching cape; she also carried a staff with a skull tip. She then used her magic to suddenly make Alistair disappear, which shocked Azariah. "Sorry for the deception, dearie, but it was the only way to get you here."

"Who are you?!" Azariah demanded.

"You may call me Yavana, and you, my dear, are the famous Hero of Ferelden. You know my mother and sister quite well."

"Your mother and sister?"

"You know them as Flemeth and Morrigan."

"You're Morrigan's sister? That's impossible! All of Morrigan's sisters were eventually possessed by Flemeth!"

Yavana laughed. "Is that what Morrigan told you? Ah, how little she knows!"

Azariah glared at her. "What do you want?!"

Yavana glanced up at the walls around them as a high dragon suddenly appeared out of nowhere and growled at Azariah, but Yavana's touch seemed to calm it. She then answered Azariah's question, "What I have _always_ wanted." She turned back to Azariah. "You came here looking for your husband, Alistair, who was kidnapped by Aurelian Titus just as his father, Maric, had been."

"You seem to know an awful lot…" Azariah said as she glared at Yavana skeptically.

"Information is a weapon, a tool… an advantage, if you will."

"What advantage? What are you hoping to get from me?"

"Your husband."

"What?! Why do you want Alistair?!"

"You don't even know how much power his blood holds, do you?"

"His blood? What in Andraste's name are talking about?! Just give me a straight answer!"

Yavana almost looked like she was weighing her options before she did provide Azariah with an answer. She raised her staff to gesture around them. "Do you know what this place is? It's called the Hall of Sleepers. When dragons were nearly extinguished from this world, the builders of this place called the few that remained. The dragons that came here would rest for generations… until awoken by power. Power that I ultimately provided. I awakened a few, the very few who had not died in their sleep, and they were the first dragons to roam the land in many ages, but the last of the great ones… is _still_ beyond my reach."

"This is all very fascinating, but what does it have to do with Alistair?"

"When Maric left for Tevinter, he first went to Antiva and met me. I was bringing him here when Aurelian caught wind of my plan somehow and captured Maric as soon as we crossed the border."

"Again, you're not telling me what this has to do with Alistair!"

"What I'm telling you is that the blood of Calanhad the Great – first King of Ferelden – flowed through Maric's veins, as it does with Alistair, also. That blood called to my queen of dragons and awoke her."

"How?"

"Blood is power – it connects us, as you are no doubt aware, and Calanhad was no ordinary warrior. He was a reaver, a man who took the blood of dragon into himself to increase his own power. That gave him the strength he needed to unite Ferelden under one rule, his. That power has flown through the Theirin blood ever since." Yavana walked closer to Azariah. "I couldn't get Maric's blood to awaken the last of the Great Dragons, and he's most likely dead by now. However, I _can_ help you find your husband and get him back from Aurelian, but in return… you need to hand him over to me."

Azariah took a step back. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to agree to that! I'm going after Alistair to free him so we can be together again!"

Yavana scoffed. "So, what? You're doing this for love?"

"Yes. Is that so hard to believe?"

"I was hoping you might see the bigger picture. What is one life compared to that of the entire world?"

"How would awakening the last of these "Great Dragons" be a benefit to the world? Dragons are dangerous, deadly creatures! As I see it, they would be a hazard!"

Yavana growled, "Typical. Mankind always seeks to destroy what it doesn't understand, _I_ seek to preserve, and I had hoped that the great Hero of Ferelden would see things differently." She took out her staff. "I was hoping to avoid this, but if you're not going to be an asset…" Her staff brimmed with magic. "Then you're a liability."

Azariah took out her sword right before someone called her name and the two of them looked to see Fiona running down the stairwell and over to her. "Fiona, what are you doing here?"

"We all came to look for you! Why did you run off?" She then saw Yavana. "And who's this?"

"Fiona…" Yavana said, and then smirked. "Ah, you're Alistair's mother, and the descendant of the last King of Arlathan."

"What?!" Fiona asked. "I'm not some elven royal!"

"Again, time seems to erase history itself, and how easily we come to believe what's not true."

"Enough with your mind games!" Azariah yelled. "You're not getting Alistair through her, either!"

"Getting Alistair?" Fiona asked.

"Yes! She wants to get her hands on Alistair to perform some ritual in using his blood to awaken the last "Great Dragon" sleeping here."

Fiona took out her staff. "Yeah, that's not going to happen!"

"You're both fools!" Yavana yelled, and threw a huge fireball at them, but they dodged it by diving in different directions.

Yavana's dragon roared angrily and tried to take a bite out of them, but they dodged its teeth, too.

Back up near the entrance, everyone else had just entered to see what was happening, and Luna looked around, then got an idea. She quickly whispered her idea to Snow who nodded in agreement and Luna started climbing the wall towards the dragon.

"Luna! What are you doing?!" Fenris cried.

"Relax! I got this!" When Luna was right above the dragon, she yelled, "Snow, now!"

Snow used her bow to fire an arrow straight at the dragon and got her right in the eye, causing it to roar in anger and pain. While it was distracted, Luna dropped down from the ceiling and onto her neck before taking out one of her daggers and burying it deep in the dragon's neck, severing an artery. The dragon roared one last time before falling to the ground, and Luna had jumped off right before it landed.

"No!" Yavana cried right before feeling a pain in her stomach. Azariah had suddenly rushed forward while she was distracted and buried her sword right through her. Azariah then tore her sword out and Yavana fell forward, blood spilling from her wound and out of her mouth as it also dripped down Azariah's blade. "This "Great Dragon" will just have to keep resting." Azariah said to the now lifeless body of Yavana before leaving the cave, and everyone followed her.

"Are you okay?" Varric asked as they left.

"I'll be alright, but thanks for asking. Now, let's not let anything else slow us down, huh? Let's get to Minrathous and kill Aurelian; it's the least that bastard deserves."

"We're all right behind you, every step of the way!" Luna smiled at her.

Azariah smiled back. "Thank you."

––

Well, there it is! Chapter 4! This was a fun one to write, and I hope you all enjoy it! Also, the idea that Fiona is really descended from the last King of Arlathan was an idea that just came to me out of nowhere, and I thought it would make a good plot twist!

See you all in the next chapter! We're coming to a head!


	5. Reunions and Rescues

A couple hours after leaving the cave where Yavana had led Azariah, they were all now back on track and continuing to Minrathous. Azariah noticed Fiona looking down and almost like she was deep in thought, so she had Caramel walk closer to Fiona's horse and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Fiona asked, suddenly being startled out of her thoughts. "Oh… sorry, Azariah. I'm fine, I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"I can't get what that witch said out of my head. I mean… could it be possible that my ancestor really was the last King of Arlathan? That would mean that I'm descended from royalty myself."

"Fiona," Azariah adjusted herself in the saddle. "If there is one thing that all my travels and adventures have taught me, it's that _anything_ is possible."

"Fair enough, but you think it's true?"

"I can't say as to whether It's true or not. I mean, she could've just been messing with your head, trying to manipulate you into giving her Alistair, or… she could've been telling the truth, and you really are elven royalty."

"Elven royalty, ha!" Fiona laughed. "Those are two words you never hear together."

"But who says it has to stay that way? Isn't it about time elves took back their place in society?"

"Change won't come easy."

"It never does. I figured you would know that better than anyone. "Many fear change and will fight it with every fiber of their being, but sometimes, change is what they need most. Sometimes, change is what sets them free."" Azariah looked back at Fiona seriously. "Morrigan told me that."

"So… what are you saying?"

"Nothing. I can't tell you what to do with this knowledge, but just follow your instincts; that's what has always worked for me." Azariah then had Caramel walk a bit faster so they were ahead a bit while Fiona's horse stayed walking at the same pace, and Fiona went back to her thoughts, now with Azariah's words in her head, too.

A couple days later, they all arrived in Minrathous and immediately set off for Aurelian's mansion with Dorian leading them since he knew the way. When they got to the outer gates, Fiona was the first to ask, "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yes, I'm positive."

"Really? Because it looks like it's been abandoned for a while." Azariah commented.

"I told you, I'm positive."

Luna kneeled down and took out her lock picking tools and began to unlock the gate, and once that was done, they rushed in through the gate and into the mansion. When they got inside, they saw that the entire place was completely devoid of any furnishings at all.

Fenris growled and grabbed Dorian by the collar of his shirt and looked him right in the eyes. "If you've been leading us on a wild goose chase, I swear I will kill you!"

"I haven't been, I swear! This was where he lived!"

"Fenris!" Luna scolded, and he let Dorian go.

Azariah suddenly yelled as she picked up a big piece of broken wood that was lying on the floor and threw it against the wall in anger.

"Easy, Azariah…" Fiona said to her calmly as she placed her hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure this out."

"How? If he's not here, then where in the Maker's name is he?!"

"Fiona's right." Snow said. "We'll figure this out, find Alistair, and set him free."

Azariah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize, I know how you feel." Fiona assured her.

"So, any ideas?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Fiona broke that silence, "Well, I have one…"

"What's that?"

"I told you back at Skyhold that Maric contacted me in my dreams. If I can somehow reestablish that connection, then I can ask him where he is now and also know for sure if Alistair is there, too."

"Last time you got burned, literally." Snow said, motioning to her arm.

"I know the risks, but I'd like to point out that it's the only chance we have." Fiona stated and walked over the nearest wall, sitting down and leaning back against it.

"Are you sure you can reestablish the connection?" Azariah asked.

"I don't know, honestly, but I have to try… for Maric _and_ for Alistair."

Azariah walked over and placed her hand on top of Fiona's reassuringly, "I'll be right here."

Fiona smiled and placed her other hand on top of Azariah's before closing her eyes, and soon, falling asleep…

 _Fiona opened her eyes and she was in pitch blackness; she couldn't even see her hands in front of her face. "Where am I?" She asked herself, her voice echoing in the vast, empty void. "I must've done something wrong. This is definitely not the same place." She looked around and called out, "Maric!"_

In the dungeon beneath Aurelian's home in Seheron, Maric and Alistair were both chained up since Alistair had attempted an escape for both himself and his father. "I'm sorry I couldn't free us." Alistair apologized.

"Alistair, you have nothing to apologize for." Maric assured her. "I'm the one who should be sorry. All of this happened because of me…" Suddenly, Maric had a flash of Fiona calling out his name, and he shook his head as he blinked. At first, he thought it was because he had been missing her more than usual lately; every time he looked at Alistair, he was reminded of his mother. When it happened again, though, he suddenly got the feeling that she was trying to reach out to him. He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on that feeling.

 _The next thing Maric knew, he was in the same room where he had talked to Fiona before, but he didn't see her anywhere. "Fiona!" He tried to call back._

 _Fiona suddenly heard Maric's voice very close by and yelled, "Maric!" When he called again, she realized that the noise was coming from the beneath her. She kneeled down and felt the ground; it was hot, as if there was a fire beneath the surface. She started banging on the floor repeatedly as hard as she could until it suddenly collapsed under her and she fell into the room. She heard Maric shout her name again and she quickly got up and saw him through the flames. "Maric! Oh, thank the Maker!"_

 _Maric then did something that Fiona hadn't expected, he backed up as far as he could before running and jumping right over the flames to be on the same the room as her. He looked at her, looking surprised, almost as if he was shocked he'd actually managed to do that, and they both laughed before embracing each other. Maric sighed contently for the first time in a long time as he held Fiona close to him. "Oh, Fiona! I've missed you so much!" He ran his fingers through her hair._

 _"I've missed you, too!" She sobbed as tears rolled down her face. She then broke away from the hug just enough so she could look him in the eyes, but still have her arms around him. "I'm sure we don't have much time again, though. So, I need to ask, where are you? We're at Aurelian's mansion in Minrathous right now, but you're not here."_

 _"He knew you guys were coming, so he had all his slaves and followers pack up everything and moved us to Seheron."_

 _"Us?"_

 _"Yes, Alistair is with me!"_

 _"Oh, good! At least you two are together! That was the other thing I needed to know!" She placed her hand against his cheek, and he smiled at her in response. "We'll be there soon and we'll get both of you out of there, I promise!"_

 _"I know you will! I have faith in you!"_

 _Just then, everything shattered around them as they were both forced out of sleep suddenly and violently._

Fiona jolted awake, "Maric!"

"Whoa, easy!" Azariah said calmly. "Relax."

Fiona panted until she got her breath back, and Luna spoke up first. "Since you woke up screaming Maric's name, I'm guessing, you talked to him?"

"Yes." Fiona said and stood up. "Alistair _is_ with Maric, and Aurelian took them to Seheron because he knew we were coming."

"Let's get to Seheron, then!" Azariah said, hastily.

"Right!" Fiona agreed.

"Wait, what?!" Fenris spoke up. "I know you're both eager to find Maric and Alistair, but Seheron is a warzone, especially this time of year."

"I know, and I know that's why Aurelian went there; it makes perfect sense. He's using the warring state of Seheron as a shield, he thinks we won't dare follow him there, but he's wrong." Azariah said. "He obviously doesn't know that I'd cross the void itself for Alastair!"

"But how are we getting there?" Cullen asked. "As you might recall, Isabela's ship is gone."

"Actually, while we were travelling, I told Zev to bring the ship here; they should be at the docks by now." Isabela said.

"Isabela, consider that reward I owe you not cut in half anymore!" Azariah said, happily, and ran out of the mansion with everyone following her. They all quickly got to the ship, except for Dorian.

"Come on, Dorian!" Snow called from up on the deck.

"I'm not going with you!" He shouted so she could hear him.

"Why not?!"

"The reason I came was because I've been meaning to come back home anyway! I need to do my part to try and change things around here!"

"What about Iron Bull?!" Luna called, "Aren't you two together?!"

Dorian gave them a sad look, one that Fiona recognized; it was the same look she gave Maric when he asked her all those years ago if he'd ever see her again. "Just tell him… tell him that I'll see him again someday!"

"Move it, you worthless seadogs!" Isabela barked to her crew in the background.

Snow sighed sadly, "Bye Dorian!"

He waved at her while smiling sadly and watched as the ship pulled out of the docks and immediately set off for Seheron.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Maric had been jolted out of the dream by Aurelian as ice cold water over him. "Have a nice nap, Your Majesty?" Aurelian asked as he glared down harshly at him. "You contacted that little elven whore of yours, didn't you? That's how they found out where you two were before!"

Maric growled and made a lunge at Aurelian, but he was standing just far enough away to be out of his grasp, and he looked completely unfazed by Maric's outburst. "Don't you dare talk that way about Fiona! She is smarter and stronger than you think!"

Aurelian smirked. "That so? Well, let's test that, shall we?" He walked out of the cell and closed the door, then used a type of blood magic seal on it. "Let's see if she catches onto this, then!"

It only took about six hours for them to get to Seheron since it was not that far away from Minrathous. As soon as they got there, they saw major fighting happening on the beach. "Oh, what fresh hell is this?" Isabela sighed.

"We can keep the ship at a distance and take a couple lifeboats to the shore!" Azariah suggested.

"Good idea!" Isabela said. "Better to lose a couple lifeboats than the whole ship!" She helped them all gather what they needed and onto the boats, then lowered them down as she stayed aboard so she could personally protect her pride and joy, should the fighting spread.

When Fiona, Azariah, Luna, Fenris, Bethany, Varric, Snow, and Cullen got the shore, they had to fight their way through the warring groups that were on the beach, but managed to get through relatively unscathed; it was a good thing they all had plenty of combat experience. They headed further inland and followed Fenris since he was the only one out of all of them who'd been here before, and he led them straight into the city of Alam. They all split up to try to get information out of different people, and then met back up in the center of the city after a couple hours.

"Please tell me someone has something." Fiona said.

"Sorry." Snow apologized.

"Yeah, these people are so tightlipped you'd think they wouldn't even be able to eat because they never open their mouths." Luna joked.

"The only thing I was able to get out of them was something about Archon Davan's old mansion on the outskirts." Cullen added.

Azariah turned to Fenris and asked, "Didn't you say that Archon Davan is who Aurelian killed?"

"Yes!" Fenris answered, knowing where she was going. "Aurelian could be staying there now!"

"That's our lead, then! Let's go!" Azariah said, and they all took off to the outskirts of the city.

It took another hour or so before they found Archon Davan's old mansion, and for a place that is built in the middle of a warzone, it was well taken care of. That was also a good indication that someone was still living there. "Just going in through the front door doesn't really seem like a good idea." Luna pointed out.

"No, it doesn't." Azariah agreed.

"Over here." Fiona called to them quietly from around the side of the mansion, and they all walked over to see wooden door that looked like it led straight into the basement.

"Good job, Fiona!" Snow congratulated.

"Well, this isn't my first time trying to find a hidden entrance into somewhere I shouldn't be." She joked.

Azariah looked at the lock and then up, "Luna, could you-"

"Way ahead of you, sister." Luna said as she took out her lock picking tools and got to work, not even a minute later, the lock was off and the door was open. "Open sesame."

The seven of them then made their way down the steps and since Cullen was the last one in, he closed the door behind them so it looked like they hadn't opened it at all. At the bottom of the steps, there was another door with another lock, but again, Luna got them through it in no time flat. Through that door was the dungeon, and it did not take long for them to find Alistair and Maric who were still in the same cell.

"Maric! Alistair!" Fiona ran over and gripped the bars of the cell.

"Fiona!" Maric called back and tried to get over to her, but was restrained by the chains.

"Don't worry, we're getting you two out of here!" Fiona said and watched as Luna started picking at the lock. Maric tried to tell her not to, but she was then thrown back and her back hit the stone wall before he could.

"Luna!" Fenris cried, concerned and ran over to her.

"Dammit!" Fiona cursed. "It looks like he sealed the lock over with blood magic."

"Which means he knew we were coming." Azariah added. Just then they were all suddenly surrounded and grabbed Aurelian's men before Aurelian himself appeared.

"You would be correct." He replied to Azariah's comment. "I didn't come to Seheron because I thought it would keep you all away. In fact, I was hoping you would come, because what better way to get rid of you then by making it look like you all just got caught up in the war here."

"You won't get away with this!" Fiona growled. "Even if you _do_ succeed in killing us, there are others who know about you, and they won't let you live!"

Aurelian walked over and smirked. " _You_ must Alistair's mother, Fiona."

"What? You are?" Snow asked, surprised.

"The most important secret in her whole life that she even kept from tell her own son." Aurelian said, and Fiona bowed her head sadly. He then lifted her head up by placing his hand under her chin. "I can see why Maric fell for you, though. You are quite the beauty for an elf." Fiona glared at him tried to bite him since her hands were being forcefully held behind her back, but he pulled his hand back before she could. "Feisty, too!" He chuckled.

"Leave her alone, you son of a bitch!" Alistair yelled, and Fiona was a bit surprised to see him trying to stand up for her, but happy too, since it meant he did care about her after all.

Aurelian motioned towards the cells to his men. "Lock them up for now! Let's let them all enjoy their last moments together, shall we?" He then smirked at Fiona again, "But not this one, I have special plans for her." He then left with the ones holding Fiona, dragging her out with them, while the rest of his men did what he told them to. His men took their weapons from them before tossing them all into the same cell and slamming the door, which magically resealed itself once it was closed.

As soon as Azariah was in the cell, the first thing she did was crawl over to Alistair and hug him, and leaned into her, but couldn't hug her back. "Sorry I can't hug you properly. My hands are a little bound right now."

"I don't care, I'm just so happy that you're alive!" She kissed him and he responded immediately. When they heard a bang on the wall, they looked over and saw that Maric was slamming himself against the wall behind him, trying desperately to break the chains on his wrists.

"We need to get to Fiona, now! Before that monster does something to her!"

They all looked around for something to use, and when Azariah spotted a bent piece of scrap metal lying on the floor just outside the cell, she reached through the bars and grabbed it. She then rushed over to Maric and slammed the piece of metal between the wall and the flat sheet attaching the chains to it. She put her foot against the wall and pulled on the scrap metal as hard as she could, and the others came to help. Soon, they had the chains free of the wall, but Maric's hands were still behind his back, so, Azariah then slammed the scrap metal into the middle of a chain link, and did that a few times before it finally broke and Maric's hands were free.

"Thank you!" Maric said, and she nodded before grabbing the piece of metal and doing the same thing for Alistair. He rushed over to the bars and rattled them desperately. "Please tell me one of you knows how to undo a blood magic seal so I can get Fiona and finally have Aurelian's head on a platter!" He growled.

They all looked at Bethany, since she was now the only mage there. She saw them all looking at her, but backed away. "Oh, no! No, no, no! I know what you're all asking of me and the answer is _no_! I will _not_ use blood magic, I have never gave into using it before and I will not now!"

"But Bethany… this is an emergency! We're going to die, and Fiona is in danger!" Azariah pleaded. "Just this once!"

"No!" She shook her head insistently. "If a mage does it once, they tend to do it again and I will not go down that path, ever!"

"Dammit!" Maric cursed as he banged his fists against the bars.

"Don't worry, we'll figure something else out," Luna said confidently. "And that woman knows how to handle herself."

Meanwhile, upstairs, Aurelian had his men bring Fiona into his chambers and then made them leave so he could be alone with her. "You know, I saw you from a distance at Tilani's party, but I didn't know then that I was looking at King Alistair's mother."

"And just how do you know that?"

"I've taken some of your son's blood from him, and there's a reason they say that blood is life; once I looked at you closer, I could sense the blood that you two share."

"That witch Yavana wanted Maric and Alistair's blood, too! Why?! What's so important about _their_ blood?!"

"So you met that wicked, little trickster, did you? What did she fill your head with? Stories of dragons and seeking to preserve life?"

"Stop dodging the question! Answer me!"

"All you need to know is this…" He walked closer and looked her right in the eyes. "Tonight, you are _mine_!"

Fiona's eyes widened in terror, flashes of when she was a child and being abused by a perverted lord in Orlais, chilled her to the bone. She had tried so hard her whole life to repress those memories, but she couldn't help but have them come to the surface now. After all, the way he was looking at her… it was the same way that the count had looked at her, as a tool to fulfill his sick, twisted desires.

Back down in the dungeon, they were all desperately trying to think of a way out, when suddenly, the sound of a crow call came from close by; then, it appeared in front of the cell and shapeshifted. "Morrigan!" Azariah said, happily. "Maker, am I ever so happy to see you! Why are you here, though?"

"You were all taking forever on your trip, so I went to Tevinter to try and find you. I found Dorian and he told me what happened, so, I'm here, and now I can see you that you really need my help."

"Yes, we do! Aurelian trapped us all in here with a blood magic seal! Can you break it? Please?!"

"Let me have a look." Morrigan examined the lock and the magic surrounding it very carefully, then nodded as she said, "This is a simple seal; a mere apprentice of blood magic can break this." She used a bit of her own blood and quickly broke the seal which opened the door.

"Thank you!" Maric said as he rushed by and headed to the stairs.

"Who was that?" Morrigan asked.

"My father!" Alistair answered as he rushed by also, chasing after Maric.

"Long story." Azariah then said and grabbed her sword and shield before following them.

Up in Aurelian's chambers, he had Fiona pinned against the wall and she was still struggling hard, which only made him smirk. "It's good that you have so much fight, the feisty ones are always the best ones." He pressed his lips to the side of her neck, but as soon as he did, something inside Fiona just completely snapped. Her hands clenched into fists as tightly as possible as her magic caused electricity to arch around them. She remembered the very moment she had killed her "master" by using her magic on him after having years of repressed anger come shooting out in a firestorm that burnt him alive.

"Never again…" She growled lowly. She suddenly used the electricity in her hands to fling Aurelian across the room, and he hit the opposite wall hard. "Never again!" She repeated as her magic wild and lightening seemed to completely envelop her, her grey eyes burning with rage and hatred. "I will never let a man take advantage of me _again_!" As soon as she said the word "again", all the magic she had built up was unleashed and caused the roof to collapse on top of her and Aurelian, burying them both in debris.

From down the hallway, Maric heard the roof collapsing after killing the last of Aurelian's men in the way and ran towards the sound, praying Fiona was alright. He ran into the door, but something was blocking it. He didn't let that stop him, however, and kept slamming himself into it with all his strength until it finally gave in and he saw the utter destruction in the room. "Fiona!" He called as he saw her not far away, covered in parts of the roof from her waist down, and appeared unconscious. He ran over and quickly began digging her out, and he heard her groan. He looked at her and saw her slowly open her eyes. "Fiona!" He put his hand behind her neck, looking at her worriedly.

She looked up at him, "Maric…? Wh…what happened…?" She asked weakly.

"I don't know." He gazed over at Aurelian who was completely covered in debris and appeared completely lifeless. "It seems you managed to kill Aurelian, though." He looked back down at her and smiled warmly. "You are definitely stronger than he thought you were."

Fiona gave him a weak smile and leaned up, kissing him on the lips tentatively for a moment before pulling away. Neither of them said anything more as Maric helped Fiona slowly to her feet, and they walked out to go meet up with everyone else and leave Seheron.

Underneath the pile of rubble, however, Aurelian regained consciousness and growled as he watched them leave…

––

I thought I'd leave you all with a bit of suspense, and this chapter is a bit longer than the others, so there's that! Do not fret, though! I already know that the next chapter will be the last, and how it's going to go! I have it all in my head, and will type it out as soon as I can! I even have an idea for an epilogue, so stay tuned for that, also!

See you in the next chapter!


	6. Final Battle and Happy Ending

A few hours after leaving Seheron, it was dusk, and Alistair was on the deck of the ship when he heard footsteps coming towards him, and he looked to see his wife walk over. "Hi Azariah."

"Hi Alistair." She greeted back. "What are you doing?" Alistair turned his gaze back over at what he'd been looking at before, and Azariah did the same. He was looking at Fiona. "Are you going to go talk to her?"

"I want to, but what should I say? I mean, the last time we saw each other, it wasn't exactly pleasant…"

"I know, she told me what happened, but this could be a new start to your guy's relationship. Go talk to her and see."

Alistair nodded, took a deep breath, and walked over to the very front of the ship where Fiona was, looking down at the water. He glanced back at Azariah one more time and saw her insistently motion for him to say something, so he looked back. "Fiona?"

Fiona stood up straight and turned around immediately. "King Alistair!" She acknowledged, almost surprised to see him talking to her.

Alistair shook his head with a sigh. "Can we drop the act? You know that I know."

"Right, sorry. Force of habit, I suppose."

He walked over and stood next to her. Things were silent for a moment as neither really knew what to say, but he then broke that silence. "So, should I call you mom now, or mother?"

"No, you don't need to do that. If you're more comfortable with "Fiona", then that's what you can call me."

"That seems almost… disrespectful, to call my mother by her first name."

Fiona bowed her head slightly and looked a bit sad. "Who says you have to be respectful towards me?" Alistair looked a bit shocked as she continued. "I've never been a good mother, I was never there for you… you should hate me. I deserve for you to hate me…" Tears welled up in her eyes as she said those words.

"But I don't." He paused then said, "Being locked in a cell tends to give a person a lot of time to think, and it also helped that dad was there to talk some sense into me." Fiona did notice that Alistair referred to him as "dad", not "Maric". "He and I have made amends, and I think it's time we did the same. Why don't you come back to Denerim with us? And don't worry," He smiled and joked. "I'm rescinding the order that bans you from Ferelden."

 _'He certainly has his father's sense of humor.'_ Fiona thought, amusingly, but frowned. "I don't know. Don't get me wrong," She smiled at him warmly. "I appreciate the offer and I really would like to finally have a relationship with you, but… I just don't know."

"If you're worried about what people may think, then don't."

"No, it's not that. It's just-"

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat and they both looked to see Maric standing there. "Sorry to interrupt, but Alistair… could I speak to your mother alone for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Alistair said. "I should get back to Azariah anyway." He turned to Fiona. "We'll talk later. Just think about it, okay?" Fiona nodded, and Alistair made his way back to his wife who was still standing where she had been.

"So?" Azariah asked.

"This will really take some getting used to, for both of us, but I think it can work! I'll finally have someone I can call my mother!"

Azariah smiled widely. "I'm happy for you!"

Alistair smiled back and kissed her cheek as he took her hands into his. "And I'm happy that you are always here looking out for me!" He kissed her forehead.

"For the love of the Maker, get a room, you two." Luna joked with a laugh as she walked over.

"Oh, and the entire time we were looking for Alistair and Maric, I was stuck with you and your elf boyfriend making eyes at each other."

"I don't "make eyes"!" Luna said, faking being offended, then laughed. "So, what are you guys doing?"

"Alistair just got done talking to Fiona, and now, she's up there talking to Maric."

"Fiona and Maric are talking alone? Oh, this I have to see!" Luna walked over to try and get a closer look, but before she could, Azariah grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her back.

"Oh, no you don't! Leave them alone!" Azariah then dragged her away and Alistair followed close behind.

Up with Maric and Fiona, he spoke up, "Are you alright?"

"Fine, why?"

"After everything that's happened, I just wanted to make sure that nothing was wrong." He took a step closer to her and leaned over to try and kiss her, but she put her hand on his chest to stop him. "What's wrong?" He practically whispered.

Fiona took a step back and shook her head. "I can't…" She then turned her back to him.

"Why not? You kissed me earlier."

"I was out of it and wasn't thinking clearly." It was silent between them before she let out a sniff and added, "And part of me still doesn't think this is real."

"What's not real?"

"You." She looked him in the eyes, her eyes slightly misty with tears. "It's like you're back from the dead. You don't know how much your death impacted people… how it impacted _me_ …"

Maric walked over and put his hands on her shoulders. "Fiona… I am so sorry. I…I know there's nothing I can do to take back the time we lost," He had her turn back around and looked in her eyes, which were filled with tears. "But… come back to Denerim with me?"

"I can't. The mages with the Inquisition… they need me. I'm the closest thing they have to a leader. I can't go to Denerim and abandon them. I mean, yes, being allied with the Inquisition gives them security, but now that Corypheus is gone, who knows how long the Inquisition will remain. I need to be there for them."

Things were silent between them until Maric said, "Bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." He looked her right in the eyes. "Bullshit. You know as well as I do that you can still lead the mages from Denerim. I think you're running away. I made the mistake of letting you walk out of my life before, Fiona, but I'm _not_ going to do that again." He took her hand into his. "What's it going to take to make you realize that we belong together? Before we made love the first time, you told me that you were so tired of pain, so isn't it about time that you stopped putting _yourself_ though pain?"

Tears fell from Fiona's eyes and she wrapped her arms around Maric's waist. "I don't know anymore…" She cried. "I want to be with you, but-"

Maric wrapped his arms around Fiona and held her gently as he placed his cheek against the top of her head as he interrupted her, "No buts. You want to be with me and I want to be with you." He looked at her, and being a bit taller than she was, he had to always look down. "Do you love me?"

Fiona looked up at Maric and placed her hand against his cheek. "Yes. I love you."

He smiled warmly. "I love you, too." He started leaning down to try and kiss her again, and this time, it seemed like she wasn't going to stop him.

Suddenly, a loud explosion happened, shaking the whole ship, and Maric held Fiona tighter to keep her from falling. "What in the Maker's name…?!" He yelled. He ran to the back of the ship with Fiona where Isabela, Luna, Azariah, and Alistair were. "What's happening?!" Maric asked, and they looked to see another ship heading right in their direction. He took the spyglass Isabela had and looked through it to get a close-up view of the flag on the ship. "Aurelian!" He growled.

"What?! But I thought you said he was dead!" Azariah said.

"He was! I mean, Fiona made the roof collapse on him! There's no way he could've survived that!"

"Well, if he wants a fight, he just got one!" Isabela growled. "Luna, take the helm! I'm going to teach this jackass a lesson!" Isabela ran down the steps to the lower deck as Luna grabbed the wheel. "Alright, you worthless rats! Get the ballistas out and blow these bastards to the Void!" Her crew scrambled to follow her orders as everyone else came up on deck to see what was happening.

"What is going on?!" Cullen asked.

"Apparently, Aurelian is still alive, and is now right on our ass!" Luna yelled back so they could all hear her. "Isabela told me to take the helm, so, here I am! Now, you pretty much know all that I know!"

"Luna! Hard to port!" Isabela ordered, and Luna immediately started turning the wheel to the left as fast as she could so the ship's side was facing Aurelian's ship as the ballistas were now loaded and ready to fire. "Hold it!" She ordered to her crew. "Wait until they're closer! And… fire!" As soon as she said fire, all the ballistas went off at once and spears punctured the side of Aurelian's ship and even speared some of his men.

Maric looked around and saw a rope connected to the sail closest to them and he ran over, using his sword to cut the rope.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Alistair cried.

"I'm boarding that ship so I can get rid of Aurelian once and for all!" He answered as he wrapped the rope multiple times around his arm.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Maybe, but I survived too much to go out like this!" Maric jumped off the side of the ship to swing over to the other ship, but at the last second, he felt someone grab his waist and swing over with him. He let go of the rope as soon as he was over the railing of Aurelian's ship and fell onto the deck, then looked over at Alistair. "What in Andraste's name are you thinking?! You need to get back over there, now!"

"No! I'm not letting you do this alone!" Alistair insisted. "I'm not losing my father again!" Maric was shocked for a moment, then smiled happily. Alistair stood up and Maric followed suit as his son tossed his sword towards him, "Now, come on! Let's go kill Aurelian!"

Maric nodded.

Maric and Alistair fought their way through Aurelian's men, always making sure that the other wouldn't get hurt. After killing the last of them, they both took a second to catch their breath.

"An impressive display, but a wasted effort!" Aurelian said as he walked over. "Neither of you are getting off this ship alive! I must applaud you, though, Alistair, your father never got this far on his own! The farthest he was ever able to escape to was the outskirts of Minrathous!"

"Shut up!" Maric yelled. "I'm not interested in what you have to say!"

"My father is better than you think!" Alistair added.

"Oh, how sweet!" Aurelian mocked. "You've finally embraced Maric as your father and you two are finally together again! How I just love touching family reunions!"

"I said shut up!" Maric yelled, and as he did, his eyes momentarily changed; his pupils became long and thin, like those of a dragon. "I should have made sure you were dead before, but this time, that is exactly what I am going to do!" Maric lunged at Aurelian and his sword clashed with Aurelian's staff. They both began pushing on their weapons, trying to make the other lose balance and have an advantage.

"Look at you! I can't believe that back in your country, they call you a hero! What was the title? Maric the Savior? You're just a man who abandoned both his sons, letting your whole country believe that you died, and couldn't even manage to free yourself, even after fifteen years!"

"You're trying to rattle me so I slip up!" Maric growled. "It's not going to work!" He pulled his sword back, but before Aurelian had time to react, Maric slammed the sword back down and slashed Aurelian's arm.

All of a sudden, there was a loud roar overhead and the three of them looked up to see a black and violet dragon fly over them. On looking closer, Alistair saw that Azariah was actually riding the dragon and was right behind her head. The dragon flew up higher before making a sharp turn and nosedived down towards the ship, breathing a stream of fire as it flew over, the flames immediately burning all the way down the ship.

"Look out!" Maric cried to Alistair as he pushed him out of the way of the flames. Maric then heard a snap and looked behind him to see a mast snap at its base, and it fell on top of Aurelian's legs, trapping him. "Well, now who's the one who can't free himself?" Maric growled as he glared down at Aurelian with burning hatred. He lifted his sword up over his head and slammed it down with all the force he could muster, chopping Aurelian's head clean off his body. Then, for good measure, he picked up Aurelian's severed head by his hair and tossed it into the ocean.

Then the dragon landed on the deck of the ship as Azariah called out to them. "You two! Come on! Let's go, this ship is sinking fast!"

Alistair and Maric ran over, and Azariah helped Alistair up behind her before he did the same for Maric and the dragon flew back up into the air and over to Isabela's ship. Since she couldn't land on the deck because it would damage the ship, the dragon landed in the water next to the ship before changing back. "Morrigan?!" Alistair asked, shocked as they all floated on the surface. "Since when do you know how to turn into a dragon?!"

"For a while, that's all you need to know."

A couple ropes were then tossed down from the deck and Isabela called to them to grab on, and when they did, they were pulled up, back onto the ship.

As soon as Maric climbed aboard, Fiona ran over and hugged him tightly, and he smiled, hugging her back.

"So… it's finally over." Azariah sighed.

"Yes." Maric answered, even though it really hadn't been a question. "Aurelian Titus is finally dead and gone… and I'm free!" He let out a relieved sigh. "I never thought I'd say those words again!"

Fiona smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist as she hugged him again. "And I've made up my mind!" She looked at him with that same smile. "I'm going back to Denerim with you," She then looked over at Alistair and Azariah. "All of you!"

"What about your duty to the mages?" Maric asked, but with a smile, obviously teasing her.

"I can still lead the mages from Denerim, and even if I couldn't, I am tired of putting myself through so much pain." She said, and Maric chuckled, pulling her back into a hug.

"Okay, I think we needed to hear some of your guy's previous conversations to understand that one." Luna joked, and all of them just started laughing.

–

More than a month later, Alistair, Azariah, Maric, and Fiona were all back in Denerim and were getting off Isabela's ship. They had stopped at the docks closest to Skyhold and dropped off Snow, Cullen, Luna, Bethany, Varric, and Fenris before coming here. Azariah hugged Isabela as she said goodbye. "Thank you for everything! I'll send you the gold as soon as I am able!"

"Alright, but don't worry about rushing it. We're friends, remember?" Isabela asked, lightly punching Azariah in the arm.

"Yes, thank you!" Azariah then gave Zevran a hug, too. "Goodbye Zev, take care of yourself!"

"You as well, Azariah!"

Azariah smiled and walked down the ramp to the docks and waved one last time before she, Alistair, Tucker, Maric, and Fiona left and headed into the city. The four of them had to walk through the market district – the busiest district in the city – to get to the palace, and as they did, people around them seemed to gasp and talk amongst themselves. "I think some of these people might be guessing who you are, Maric." Azariah whispered.

"Either that, or they know who I am." Fiona suggested.

"Don't worry, mom, I'll make sure nothing happens to you." Alistair said, and Fiona smiled as they all kept walking.

When the four of them made it to the palace, they walked into the throne room, and Fiona looked around. "Wow. I haven't been here since… well, since a couple months after you were born, Alistair."

"It looks exactly as I remember it." Maric added.

"Alistair! Azariah!" Eamon called as he came into the room with Teagan and rushed over. "You two are finally back! Where have you been?!"

"It's a _long_ story!" Alistair said.

Eamon then saw the other two in the room and looked beyond shocked. "M-Maric?!"

"Hi Eamon."

"No way!" Teagan said. "This can't be the same man!"

"I…I can't believe my eyes!"

Maric laughed. "Oh, it's me, alright!"

"What are you doing here? How did you get here? Where have you been all this time?"

"Eamon, calm down. I know you have a lot of questions, and I promise, I will answer all of them, but first…" He took Fiona's hand into his. "You two remember Fiona?"

"Yes."

"Well, she's going to be living here with us from now on, and we're getting married!"

Eamon and Teagan exchanged shocked expressions before Teagan asked, "Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to sound prejudiced here, but… she _is_ an elven mage…"

"I don't care." Maric said, sounding sure of this decision. "I love Fiona, and if anyone has a problem with our marriage, they can complain all they want, but it's not going to change anything!"

"I love you, too, Maric."

"What do you think, Alistair?" Eamon asked.

"I think they deserve to be together, and I want them both to be happy." He looked at his wife with a loving look. "Just like I'm happy with Azariah!"

Azariah chuckled and kissed his cheek. "Sweet talker!"

Eamon and Teagan looked at each other again before Eamon just smiled and shrugged, then looked back at Maric and Fiona. "I think this is a big step in the right direction, for everyone, and Alistair's right! You two deserve to be together!"

Maric and Fiona looked at each other happily, knowing that no matter what came next, they would have each other, and their son.

––

Alright everyone, there it is! The final chapter! As I said, I do have an idea for an epilogue! I am also currently working on a new chapter to my one-shot series story on here, so go and check that out, and the new chapter should be up shortly!

I hope you all enjoyed this, I enjoyed writing it! Until next time!


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